When Your Best Friend
by Kelly of the midnight dawn
Summary: A story with a second person narrative. Short chapters, eventual Pieretti.
1. Chapter 1

**When Your Best Friend...**

**Disclaimer - I don't own Perception. This is a story written for fun, not for profit. **

**A/N: As I'm still flexing my "Perception" writing muscles I figured I'd challenge myself to write something in the seldom used second person narrative. These will be short chapters. The first chapter is sort of an overview of the series up until and through "Dirty". This first chapter contains specific spoilers for "Dirty" and "Asylum" as well as more general spoilers for everything else. Hope you enjoy and please review. **

When your best friend used to be your favorite college professor, you're kinda surprised its not awkward. When your soon-to-be ex husband comes back into your life, it gets a little awkward.

When your best friend is a paranoid schizophrenic, you can't help but feel protective of him. When you find out he's been lying to you about his symptoms returning, you can't help but feel betrayed.

When your best friend goes undercover in a mental hospital at the behest of some dunderhead defense attorney, you're outraged. When he almost dies because of it you're afraid.

As you sit with him afterwards and he thanks you for saving his life, you're torn between wanting to kiss him and wanting to slap him. When you do niether, you regret it later.

When you and your ex husband get engaged again, part of you wishes your best friend would say something. When you express concern that the man who cheated on you once before will do it again, your best friend offers you comforting words and you find yourself wishing he'd offered something more.

When it looks as though your fiancé has not only cheated on you but committed murder, your best friend appears to move Heaven and Earth to prove your fiance's innocence on both counts.

When your fiancé is upset with you for not having faith in him, a part of you breaks.

When you pull your best friend from a burning house and he's barely alive, as you preform CPR and pray to God that you don't lose him, you realize something.

As he starts to cough and the ambulance arrives, you realize that somewhere in between the cases and the late nights you've fallen in love with your best friend.


	2. Chapter 2

**When Your Best Friend...**

**A/N: Here's chapter two. I think this story will be about five chapters long then I return to my comfort zone of third person omniscient past tense. Next I'm hoping to post a more in depth post "Dirty" story to follow up where "Flames of Foresight" left off. Thanks to my reviewer. **

As you sit in a hospital waiting room and wait to be told you can see him, you wonder what you're gonna do now that you're aware of your own feelings. When your fiancé rushes in with a cup of coffe for you, you feel guilty.

When Max shows up things get worse. As Max berates you for allowing this to happen, you can't help but feel he's right. When Donnie gets in Max's face, telling him to shut up and sit down, you lose it.

You pull Donnie back as in a half yell, half sob you force out the words "He's right!" The admission takes more out of you than you expected it to and you sink into a chair. You are ridiculously aware of their eyes on you as you fiddle with a bandage on the back of your left hand where hot embers struck you when you went back in for Daniel.

You want to burst into full blown tears but you can't, something inside you makes you furiously blink them back and attempt to swallow the lump in your throat. When you next speak, your voice is much softer and the two men have to lean in to hear you "I should have checked out the situation more thoroughly before I took Daniel there."

Donnie drops into a seat beside you, wrapping an arm around you and offering you words of comfort. You don't have the heart to push him away. It's not the time or place to tell him you're falling out of love with him. You haven't quite figured out how to tell him you love someone else.


	3. Chapter 3

**When Your Best Friend...**

**A/N: I've had a bunch of inspiration so here's the next chapter. Not too much more to go. Please let me know if you like it or not. **

When the doctors finally let you see him he's a mess of bandages and machines, but he's conscious and he musters a little smile through the transparent plastic of the oxygen mask. You are relieved to see him and you feel yourself approaching tears again. You want to hug him but there are too many machines in the way so you settle for holding his hand.

"You keep saving my life Agent Moretti," he tries to joke but with his voice muffled by the oxygen mask his dark humor is lost on you.

You grip his hand tighter even though its swaddled so deep in bandages that you wonder if he can even feel it. And for the first time since you'd been resuscitating him on that lawn, you let a few tears through.

Your tears have the effect of erasing that little smile from his face and replacing it with concern. He reaches for his oxygen mask with his free hand but you stop him. You're perfectly alright with him sounding muffled. According to what you've heard from the doctors he inhaled a lot of smoke and it was a miracle you were able to get him breathing again at the scene.

"Leave it," you instruct him and though you're crying, your words carry weight.

He looks as though he's about to say something when his gaze shifts from you to the foot of the bed. Though its brief you catch it and have a good idea what it means. You want to ask him who or what he's seeing there but you aren't sure if you should.

Besides he's focused on you again so for all you know the hallucination has passed. He looks like he wants to say something but you speak first.

"I'm glad your okay Daniel," you tell him.

"Then for the love of God stop crying," he chuckles darkly and the heavily bandaged hand that you're l holding squeezes back.

A nurse enters and tells you it's time to leave, that the patient needs his rest. Daniel, naturally, objects. You bid him farewell and before you turn to go, you lean in and kiss his cheek. You relish the feel of rough stubble against your lips and the smooth skin beneath it.

"I'll see you tomorrow," you promise, turning and exiting before he can respond.


	4. Chapter 4

**When Your Best Friend...**

**A/N: Second to last chapter. Like I said this type of narrative is not the one I'm used to. But I'm trying to get comfortable writing these characters and honestly I am a lot more comfortable with the characters than the narrative at this point. I'd like to know from my readers if I'm capturing the magic of the characters but considering how short my "Perception" works have been I feel like its a bit too soon to be asking that. Well I hope you enjoy this. **

You throw yourself into work, trying to figure out who is responsible for the explosion that nearly robbed you of something precious. The leads are numerous and you're just one of many agents running them down. Still every day you take your lunch break at the hospital with Daniel. You bring him tea and he asks about the case.

He offers his insights and you're glad of them. The two of you talk. He asks about Donnie and it doesn't go unnoticed when you're replies are evasive. You aren't ready to tell him you've called off the engagement and that Donnie's moved out.

You ask about the hospital and he tells you he hates it. He misses his classes, his piano, his routine, food that doesnt resemble wallpaper paste and most of all not being watched by hawk like nurses when he's supposed to be taking his meds.

What they've got him on isn't enough to rob him of his hallucinations completely. You know because of the way he sometimes looks away mid conversation to a point just over uour shoulder or at the foot of the bed.

You haven't yet told him about your revelation but the intimate touches the two of you share are becoming more frequent and not just on your part.

One day you can't make it for lunch. You call his room and tell him you'll see him that afternoon and you can't help but notice the disappointment in his voice when he acquiesces.

When you finally do make it to the hospital you notice he's been practicing with his crutches. He's relieved to see you and you wonder what the hallucination he was conversing with upon your arrival was telling him. You decide it couldn't have been good as he lifts his arms to embrace you and drops the crutches in the process.

You help him back to bed and when you move to take the seat beside the bed, he pulls you down beside him.

"Why didn't you tell me that you called off your engagement?" he asks and your heart skips a beat. And it isn't just because of your proximity or the heat of his body against yours.

You open your mouth to respond but he cuts you off "Donnie came to see me at lunch today."

Feeling cornered, you strike back with "Are you sure it was Donnie?" Your tone is harsh and the words are biting. You regret it immediately as you catch the shadow that momentarily drifts across his face.

"Give me a little credit Kate," he responds but the humor he would normally put behind the comment is absent.

You feel guilty and look away "It wasn't relevant to the case," you reply lamely.

"Neither are half the things we've talked about over the last week and a half," he points out and you know he's right.

You sigh "I've got something I need to tell you," you admit.


	5. Chapter 5

**When Your Best Friend...**

**A/N: I'm not exaggerating when I say that this last chapter was torture for me to write. I agonized over this scene and I hope the characters are true to form. I hate this style if narration and am glad this limitless experiment is over. That being said I absolutely love the readers and reviewers. Thank you all for your support. Just don't expect to see anymore second person narratives from me for a LONG time. **

You know it won't be an easy conversation but its one you have to have. You've been so afraid of running out of time. Why are you waiting it now?

"What exactly did Donnie say?" you ask, suspicious of your ex.

"I'd rather hear it from you," he responds. He must see the question in your eyes because he clarifies "In case Donnie, wasn't Donnie," while that wouldn't seem like a clarification to most you know exactly what it means. And you're relieved that the clarification carries with it that hint of cynical dark humor that your earlier words had caused to temporarily vanish.

"I'm pretty sure he was," you sigh before you begin "I ended it with Donnie because I'm not in love with him anymore."

Daniel nods, silently urging you to continue so you do "I realized that I'm in love with someone else."

Again he nods and you vow to give Donnie an earful about his visit later. You suddenly don't want to continue. Just how much does Daniel really know?

"Donnie wants you to be happy Kate," Daniel tells you and you know in that instant that Donnie told him everything.

You groan "I'm gonna kill him," you mumble as your eyes close briefly.

Daniel reaches forward and brushes a stray strand of hair behind your ear.

You sigh again "So you know?" you ask.

"Know what?" he's deliberately suing dumb and you want to be mad but in this moment you can't.

You reach out and cup his face in your hands "You know," you say with certainty.

"If I knew something," he tells you "I'd still rather hear it from you."

You growl in frustration. Why is this so hard? Why can't you just say the words? You're fairly certain that he won't flat out reject you. So why can't you just spit it out already?

"It's you," you murmur as you look away, your hands dropping from the sides if his face.

"Excuse me?" he questions and you half want to strangle him for it.

"I'm in love with you," you blurt out.

It's his turn to sigh and your heart jumps into your throat. You want to ask what's wrong but are afraid of the answer.

"No you don't," he tells you.

"I'm pretty sure I do," you reply.

"You think you do," he tells her "But its just an overreaction to the explosion."

"It's not," you argue. You know what your heart has been telling you even before the explosion when you were too stubborn to listen to it.

Daniel's about to say something when he turns to his left and after a second or two shakes his head vigorously.

As you watch this you realize something "You think I can't love you because of your schizophrenia," you lean forward and cup his face again, forcing him to look at you "You're wrong," you tell him forcefully.

"You haven't seen me at my worst," he argues "I just don't want to scare you."

"I'm not gonna run away just because you have an episode," you promise. You remember Paris and what a mess Miranda left him in emotionally.

"You deserve better than having to put up with someone with a mental ill ess day in and day out," he says and the pain behind his words rips at your heart.

"Is that what Donnie told you?" now you really are going to kill your ex.

Daniel shakes his head "It's the truth Kate. If you wake up one day and decide you can't handle it..." he leans away from your touch "I couldn't take it if you wound up hating me."

You wrap your arms tight around him "Daniel, that could never happen," you promise him.

He looks at you and you can tell that your words have gotten through.

When your best friend kisses you it tender and passionate all at once. He doesn't need to say that he loves you because the kiss speaks for him. When the nurse's station fifteen feet away erupts in applause, neither of you care. When he kisses you nothing else matters.


End file.
